REPORT 

OF  THE 

MINOEITY  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  JUDICIARY, 

ON    HOUSE    BILL    NO.  3Y3, 
IN  SENATE,  MARCH  1,  1869. 


A  minority  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  who  have  had  under 
advisement  House  Bill  No.  3T3,  entitled  a  bill  for  "An  act  relating 
to  a  portion  of  the  submerged  lands  and  Lake  Park  grounds,  lying 
on  and  adjacent  to  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  on  the  eastern 
frontage  of  the  city  of  Chicago,"  not  concurring  in  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  majority  of  said  committee,  beg  leave  respectfully  to 
state  some  ot  their  reasons  for  recommending  the  rejection  ot  the 
bill. 

It  is  conceded  by  the  friends  of  this  bill  that  the  strip  of  land 
on  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  between  Randolph  street  and  Park 
Row,  and  from  the  west  line  of  Michigan  Avenue  to  the  water's 
edge,  was  dedicated  to  the  public  use— part  of  it  by  the  United 
States  government,  and  part  of  it  by  the  Canal  Trustees — and 
that  such  dedication  had  been  confirmed  to  the  city  of  Chicago  by 
act  of  the  Legislature  in  1861.  That,  originally,  it  was  dedicated 
as  a  street,  and  that  when  the  city  became  incorporated  (March 
4th,  1837,)  the  title  to  this  strip  of  land  vested  in  the  city,  with  all 
the  riparian  rights  incident  to  the  ownership  of  the  bank  of  navi- 
Yol.  1—64 


[  506  ]  2 

gable  water,  including  the  right  to  erect  wharves,  docks  and  piers, 
for  the  accommodation  of  navigation  and  commerce. 

Such  continued  to  be  the  rights  of  the  city  up  to  the  time  when 
it  granted  to  that  company  the  right  of  way  for  its  track  through 
the  lake  in  front  of  the  same. 

Although  the  charter  of  the  company  granted  to  it  the  right  of 
way  over  and  through  lands  owned  by  the  state,  for  the  "only" 
and  SOLE  inirpom''''  of  constructing,  maintaining  and  operating  its 
road,  it  provided  that  the  '■'■company  should  not  he  authorized  to 
make  a  location  of  its  track  within  any  city  without  the  consent  of 
the  Common  Council  of  the  city^     [Private  laws,  1851,  p.  61.] 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that,  in  the  wisdom  of  the  Legislature  that 
created  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  while  it  bestowed 
upon  it  the  richest  endowment  ever  granted  to  any  railroad  com- 
pany in  this  country,  it  recognized  its  paramount  obligation  to  its 
citizens  by  reserving  to  each  particular  locality,  through  which  the 
road  should  run,  the  authority  to  fix  the  terms  and  limitations 
upon  which  it  should  traverse  its  streets  and  occupy  its  public 
grounds  and  waters. 

Fully  recognizing  this,  the  company  applied  to  the  Common 
Council  of  Chicago  to  be  permitted  to  enter  the  city  upon  the  lake 
shore,  which  was  granted  upon  the  company's  entering  into  an 
agreement,  under  seal,  with  the  city,  upon  the  terms,  among  other 
things. 

That  "  the  said  road  should  enter  the  city  at  or  near  the  inter- 
section of  its  south  boundary  with  Lake  Michigan,  and  following 
the  shore  on  or  near  the  margin  of  said  lake,  northerly  to  the 
southern  bounds  of  the  open  space  known  as  Lake  Park,  in  front 
of  canal  section  fifteen,  and  continue  northerly  across  the  open 
space  in  front  of  said  section,  to  such  grounds  as  the  said  company 
may  acquire  between  the  north  line  of  Randolph  street  and  the 
Chicago  river,  in  the  Fort  Dearborn  addition  to  said  city." 

That  "  the  company  might  enter  upon  and  use  in  perpetuity, /b/* 
its  line  of  road  and  other  works  necessary  to  protect  the  same 
from  the  lake,  a  width  of  three  hundred  feet  from  the  southern 
boundary  of  said  public  ground,  near  twelfth  street;  the  inner  or 
west  line  of  the  ground  to  be  used  by  said  company  to  be  not  lees 
than  four  hundred  feet  east  from  the  west  line  of  Michigan  avenue 
and  parallel  thereto." 


3  [  5or  ] 

That  "the  company  rni'f^ht  extend  their  works  and  fill  out  into 
the  lake  to  a  point  in  the  southern  pier  not  less  than  four  hundred 
feet  west  from  the  present  east  end  of  the  same,  thence  parallel 
with  Michigan  avenue  to  the  north  line  of  Randolph  street  ex- 
tended, hut  it  is  expressly  understood  that  the  Common  Council  does 
not  grant  any  right  or  'privilege  beyond  the  limits  above  specified, 
nor  beyond  the  line  that  may  be  actually  occupied  by  the  works  of 
the  company!'''  "  That  should  any  damage  or  obstruction  occur  to 
the  harljor  of  Chicago,  clearly  traceable  to  the  construction  of  said 
works,  then  the  compan}^  should  be  held  responsible  for  the  same." 

That  "the  said  company  should  erect  and  complete  ***■'«■ 
and  shall  f)r  ever  maintain  a  continuous  wall  or  structure  of  stone 
masonry,  pier  work  or  other  sufficient  material,  of  regular  and 
sightly  appearance,  and  not  to  exceed  in  hight  the  general  level 
of  Michigan  avenue,  opposite  thereto,  from. the  north  line  of  Ran- 
dolph street,  to  the  southern  bound  of  Lake  Park  before  mentioned, 
at  a  distance  of  not  more  than  three  hundred  feet  east  from  and 
parallel  laith  the  western  or  inner  line,  pointed  out  to  said  com- 
pany, as  herein  before  specified^ 

"  The  said  company  shall  erect  no  buildings  between  the  north 
line  of  Randolph  street  and  the  south  line  of  Lake  Park,  nor 
occupy  nor  use  the  xoorhs  proposed  to  be  constructed  betioeen  these 
points,  except  for  the  passage  of  or  for  making  up  or  distributing 
their  trains,  nor  place  upon  any  part  of  their  works  between  said 
points  any  obstruction  to  the  view  of  the  lake  from  the  shore,  or 
suffer  their  locomotives,  cars  or  other  articles  to  remain  upon  their 
tracks,  but  only  erect  such  works  as  are  proper  for  the  construction 
of  their  necessary  tracks  and  the  protection  of  the  same." 

"  The  said  company  shall  erect  and  maintain  on  the  western  or 
inner  line  of  the  ground  pointed  out  tor  its  main  track  on  the  lake 
shore,  as  the  same  is  hereinbefore  defined,  such  suitable  walls, 
fences,  or  other  sufficient  works  as  will  prevent  animals  from  stray- 
ing upon  or  obstructing  its  tracks,  and  secure  persons  and  property 
from  danger." 

"  Said  structure  to  be  of  suitable  materials  and  sightly  appear- 
ance, and  of  such  hight  as  the  common  council  may  direct,  and  no 
change  therein  shall  be  made,  except  by  mutual  consent :  Provi- 
ded, however,  That  the  company  shall  construct  such  suitable 
gates  at  proper  places  at  the  ends  of  the  streets  which  are  now  or 
may  liereafter  be  laid  out,  or  may  be   required  by  the  coramoQ 


[  508  I  4 

council,  to  afford  pafe  access  to  tlie  lake.  And pi'ovided  also,  That 
ill  case  of  the  construction  of  an  outside  harbor,  streets  may  he 
laid,  out  to  approach  the  same  in  mam  er  provided  by  law,  in 
-which  case  the  common  council  may  regulate  the  speed  of  locomo- 
tives and  trains  across  them.  [Gary's  laws  and  ordinances  of 
Chicago ;  page  454.J 

The  bill,  whose  passage  is  recommended  by  the  majority  of  your 
committee,  falsely  assumes  that  the  Illinois  Central  liailroad  Com- 
pany is  already  the  owner  of  all  rights  outside  of  its  track  for  one 
mile  east  into  the  lake. 

The  minority  of  your  committee  can  see  no  reason  why  this 
.^assumption  should  be  made,  unless  it  is  intended  by  false  claim  of 
right  to  deceive  your  honorable  body  and  the  public,  into  granting 
to  that  company,  without- compensation,  property  and  franchises, 
worth,  as  your  committee  are  advised  and  believe,  an  amount 
equal  to  the  whole  value  of  all  the  property  of  the  company. 

Under  the  express  understanding  that  no  right  or  privilege  was 
granted  beyond  the  limits  specified,  it  asserts  the  ownership  of  a 
mile  square  of  land  and  water  beyond  it. 

Under  the  solemn  agreement  that  in  case  of  the  construction  of 
an  outside  harbor,  streets  might  be  laid  out  to  approach  the  same 
in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law,  and  to  regulate  the  speed  of  lo- 
comotives and  trains  crossing  the  same,  it  claims  to  be  the  only 
party  entitled  to  build  and  enjoy  such  a  harbor,  and  that  the  rights 
of  the  city  terminate  with  its  line  of  road. 

Under  their  agreement  to  be  responsible  for  all  damages  and 
obstructions  to  the  harbor  of  Chicago  traceable  to  the  construction 
of  its  works,  as  authorized  by  the  agreement,  it  claims  the  right  to 
appropriate  to  its  only  and  sole  use  the  entire  outside  harbor,  and 
to  extend  its  piers  and  fill  out  across  the  only  entrance  to  the 
mouth  of  Chicago  river,  covering  as  it  will,  the  channel  of  the 
river,  which  by  the  action  of  the  waters  of  the  lake  is  thrown  to 
the  south  across  the  tracts  which  will  be  ceded  to  this  company  by 
this  bill. 

Instead  of  keeping  the  space  in  front  of  Lake  Park  free  from 
buildings,  open  and  unobstructed  to  the  view  from  the  shore,  it 
claims  the  right  to  fill  it  with  warehouses,  storehouses,  lumber 
yards,  and  such  erections  as  it  shall  please  to  erect  thereon  for  its 
convenience  oi-  profit. 


5  [  509  ] 

Instead  of  keeping  its  solemn  covenant  in  any  particular,  it 
seeks,  without  consideration  to  its  covenantee,  to  break  it  in  every 
part,  to  the  destruction,  as  the  people  of  the  city  believe,  of  the 
dearest  interests  of  the  city  and  the  State, 

And  to  all  this  the  bill  proposes  to  add  the  sanction  of  a  law. 

The  minority  of  your  committee  cannot  refrain  from  expressing 
the  belief  that  no  exigency  exists  which  will  justify  this  wrong 
on  the  part  of  this  great  corporation,  or  that  will  justify  them 
in  recommending  that  this  bill  be  enacted  into  a  law. 

Beyond  these  considerations  there  are  others  to  which  the  mi- 
nority of  your  committee  beg  leave  briefly  to  allude. 

The  bill  takes  from  the  city  of  Chicago  a  strip  of  ground  to 
which  it  has  undoubted  title,  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in 
length  and  three  hundred  feet  in  width,  fronting  on  Michigan 
avenue,  worth  $3,000,000,  for  which  it  arbitrarily  fixes  the  price  to 
be  paid  by  the  city  at  $800,000,  and  imposed  as  a  penalty  the  for- 
feiture of  even  this  small  sum  if  it  does  not  promptly  yield  to  the 
unequal  bargain. 

Whether  this  is  constitutional  or  not,  your  committee  have  not 
stopped  to  consider.  The  glaring  injustice  demands  at  least  that 
the  bill  shonld  be  amended  so  as  to  give  the  city  fair  compeusation 
for  its  property. 

It  cedes  to  the  company  a  mile  square  of  land  and  water  equal 
in  value,  when  improved,  to  any  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  in 
which  the  State  and  the  city  have  the  only  interest,  and  over  which 
they  have  control,  limited  only  by  the  exigencies  of  navigation. 

The  average  depth  of  water  over  this  land  does  not  exceed  ten 
feet.  It  may  be  filled  up  and  docked  over  for  about  $200  per  foot 
front  by  180  feet  deep,  including  the  necessary  streets  and  alleys ; 
and  it  adjoins  property  that  is  now  selling  for  $800  to  $1,500  per 
foot  front.  Carrying  out  these  calculations,  the  Senate  will  get 
some  idea  of  the  vast  inheritance  with  which  we  part  if  we  pass 
this  bill ;  though  it  may  give  but  a  faint  conception  of  the  conse- 
quences for  good  or  for  irreparable  evil  to  the  state. 

It  has  been  urged  that  this  property  is  unimproved,  and  una- 
vailable to  the  state,  and,  in  its  present  condition,  yields  no  reve- 
nue to  the  state.  This  does  not  seem  to  us  to  justify  even  the 
least  injustice  to  the  city  of  Chicago ;  much  less  does  it  justify  us 
in  hastening  to  give  it  away,  and  exempting  it  from  state  and 
county  taxes,  for  less  than  two-thirds  the  actual  yearly  tax  which 


[  510  ]  6 

would  be  paid  to  the  state  if  it  were  sold  to  and  improved  by- 
other  ])arries  than  the  grantees  in  the  bill  under  consideration. 

Your  committee  are  informed  that  numerous  parties  stand  ready 
to  purchase  this  property  in  larger  or  smaller  parcels — and  they 
would  deprecate  the  sale  of  the  whole  to  any  one  individual  or 
company — and  that  these  purchasers  would  buy  it  in  its  unim- 
proved condition ;  and  among  such  purchasers  would  no  doubt  be 
found  the  railroads  now  seeking  it  as  a  gift.  Lands  of  the  state 
have  heretofore  been  sold,  and  the  avails  honestly  accounted  for ; 
and  it  is  believed  honest  agents  might  be  found  in  this  behalf. 

That  part  of  the  property  included  in  the  bill  which  lies  east  of 
a  point  fifteen  hundred  feet  east  of  the  present  track  of  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  should  not  be  disposed  of  to  any  person  or 
corporation,  for  the  reason  that  throwing  out  embankments  or 
piers  beyond  that  point  would  cause  the  deposit  of  sand  in  front 
of  the  present  entrance  to  the  harbor,  and  destroy  its  usefulness, 
and  impair  the  value  of  vast  amounts  of  dock  property  within  the 
city  of  Chicago ;  and  only  such  quantities,  say  three  blocks  in 
width  north  and  south,  ought  to  be  disposed  of  until  that  shall  be 
improved,  and  other  parts  are  demanded  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  growing  business  of  the  state,  when  it  will  bring  an 
increased  price. 

There  is  no  guarantee  in  the  bill  that  any  improvement  shall  be 
made  b}^  the  company,  and  no  protection  against  any  arrangement 
which  the  company  might  make,  under  which  the  gross  receipts 
of  the  road  from  such  property  might  be  merely  nominal. 

One  of  the  heaviest  burdens  which  now  rests  upon  the  produ- 
cers of  our  state  and  the  north-west  is  the  present  high  rate  of 
storage  which  is  charged  by  the  grain  warehouses,  now  unfortu- 
nately combined  under  the  influence  and  control  of  the  railroads 
centering  in  Chicago.  Although  there  is  a  stringent  law  upon 
our  statute  book,  that  railroads  shall  deliver  grain  to  any  ware- 
house to  which  it  may^  be  directed,  yet  so  powerful  is  this  combi- 
nation that  the  law  is  put  at  defiance,  and  all  competition  in  stor- 
age is  crushed  out;  and  while  the  warehouses  in  the  combination 
are  filled  to  overflowing,  at  exorbitant  rates  of  storage,  other 
warehouses  stand  rotting  by  their  sides,  with  empty  bins,  for  the 
want  of  the  business  which  they  would  gladly  do  for  half  the 
price.  Yet,  while  the  bill  is  careful  to  preserve  legislative  control 
over  the  wharfage  and  dockage  upon  the  premises  proposed  to  be 


7  [  511  ] 

ceded,  no  such  control  is  reserved  over  the  storage  of  grain  and 
other  products  and  merchandise.  This  will  be  the  principal  busi- 
ness which  must  be  here  carried  on,  and  your  committee  would 
ask  the  Senate  to  inquire  the  cause  of  this  omission. 

The  minority  of  your  committee  might  continue  to  enumerate 
reasons  against  the  passage  of  this  bill,  but  they  forbear. 

They  respectfully  recommend  that  the  bill  be  rejected. 

J.  D.  WARD,  Chairman. 
ALLEN  C.  FULLEE, 
J.  W.  STREVELL, 
H.  SNAPP. 


KFX 


